NOTE: I do not own any of 'The O.C' characters… you can thank FOX. If you have any questions or comment you can e-mail me at liverbrain22@hotmail.com

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Chapter Sixteen

Before going back to Summer's apartment, Seth picked up some dinner for the two of them. It was a long, but wise, decision after deciding to go with Chinese food.

"Summer!" Seth banged on her apartment door with his free hand. "Open up, it's me!"

"COMING!" Summer yelled out from the kitchen. Summer quickly dried her hands on a towel and opened the door for him. "Oh, Cohen…I made dinner."

"You made dinner?" Seth repeated. "Well, you can throw out the T.V. dinner's 'cause I got us some excellent Chinese food." Seth said, putting the food down on the table.

"What makes you assume we're having T.V. dinners?" Summer yelled at him.

"Well, we're not. We're having Chinese food."

"Cohen!" Summer scowled him. "I made dinner. As in I cooked something in an oven." She explained.

Seth started sniffing the air like a dog. "I don't smell anything thing burning."

Summer swatted Seth in the stomach. "I didn't burn anything. In fact, I made us a lovely roast with sweet potatoes."

"Aw, how sweet." Seth joked. "So, we'll have your dinner with a side order of Chinese food." He explained, walking into the kitchen and picking at the roast. "You sure you cooked it long enough?" He asked.

"Cohen, I know how to cook. Now go sit your butt at the table!" She ordered him, grabbing the roast and bringing it to the table. Seth sat down and unloaded the Chinese food.

"So, is the house clean enough? Or do you have to clean more?" Seth asked.

Summer glared at him. "As a matter of fact, I didn't clean today. I went out with Marissa to the mall to shop for the baby."

"What did you get?" Seth asked.

"Oh…well, you know…Stuff." Summer mumbled.

"Stuff?"

Summer nodded her head as she chewed hard on the piece of roast in her mouth. "I just picked up a few things." She pointed over to the pile of bags on the floor in the living room.

"A few things?" Seth repeated. "That looks like a few too many few things to be a few things."

"Whoa, what?" Summer asked.

"Never mind." Seth rolled his eyes. "So, how much did a few things cost you?" He asked, putting more rice onto his plate.

Summer took another bite of her roast. "Um…six…six hundred." She mumbled.

"Six hundred!" Seth yelled. "On what?" He asked.

"Well, you know…clothes and toys." Summer replied. "Just what a baby needs, right?"

"Summer, what about the money situation?" He asked. "If we're not going to be 'accepting' money from our parents, we need to watch ourselves. I know I make a lot of money but you do realize that we have other things to spend it on like…like for instance, buying a home. We're going to need to do some upgrading once the baby comes."

"Yeah, but that's later." Summer protested. "Quit worrying, Cohen." She told him.

Seth sighed. "Just promise me you won't go shopping again without me there."

"You mean you want to go shopping?" Summer asked, excitingly.

"Well, yeah. Shopping isn't my favorite thing in the world, but I would like to pick things out for the baby too."

"Great, so we can go tonight!" Summer said.

"Uh, no. I think you've spent too much for today."

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After going back to Colin's house and dropping off the puppy, Ben and Colin biked over to Ben's house.

"MOM!" Ben yelled out as soon as he stepped into the house. He kicked off his shoes and went into the kitchen, with Colin following behind him. "Mom, this is Colin. Can he stay over for supper?" He asked.

Marissa smiled at Colin. "Sure, were having macaroni and cheese with hot dogs."

"Gross." Ben said, leaving the kitchen and going upstairs to his room with Colin.

"Nice room." Colin commented. "Hey, what's this?" He picked up Captain Oats.

Ben grabbed the horse away from him. "Uh, that's nothing. It's my little brother's." He laughed nervously and threw the horse over to the side of the room.

"Who's that?" Colin asked, pointing to a picture frame on Ben's dresser.

"That's Aden…my twin brother."

"Where is he?" Colin asked, picking up the frame.

"He's gone. He died…" Ben mumbled. He then quickly changed the subject. "Let's go downstairs to the basement. We have, like, tons of games."

"Okay."

They went into the basement and played Playstation until dinnertime. After dinner, Colin went home.

"So, is he a new friend from school?" Marissa asked. They were sitting in the living room watching T.V.

Ben nodded his head and continued watching T.V.

"So, you like the school?" She asked.

"It's alright." Ben replied, not taking his eye of the set. "Colin's my only friend there."

"Well, it's just your first day. I'm sure you'll meet more kids." Marissa said. "And as for you…" Marissa messed up Conner's hair. "Open up more to your classmates. I'm sure once they get to know you, you'll have tons of friends."

A set of headlights pulled up into the driveway. "Dad's home!" Conner yelled and ran to the door. He opened the door for his dad. "Uncle Trey!" Conner yelled.

Ben and Marissa looked at each other.

"Mom, what's he doing here?" Ben asked.

"I'm not sure." Marissa got up and went over to the front door. Not only was Trey there with Ryan, but his kids, Amy and Josh, were also with them. "Hey guys." Marissa smiled at them and then glared at Ryan.

"Hi, Aunt Marissa!" Amy went up to her and hugged her.

Marissa hugged the little four-year old child and then went over to Ryan. "Ryan, what are you doing?" She whispered to him.

"Marissa, you don't know how much all of this means to me and the kids right now." Trey explained to her, as he and his kids took off their jackets and shoes.

"Yeah, well it's no problem…At all." She said, scratching the back of her neck. "Uh, Ryan, can I speak with you minute in the kitchen? Now!" Marissa asked and then walked away into the kitchen.

Ryan followed Marissa into the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing, Ryan!" Marissa yelled at him, try to keep her voice low.

"They had no where else to go. He has no money for rent or food right now. I couldn't just leave them there in Chino. He has the kids with him. If it were just him, then I would tell him to just go to a shelter." Ryan explained. "Don't worry, it won't be for long."

"Ryan, what about Amy and Josh's education? They can't just leave their school in Chino."

"Well, there's a public school near here." Ryan replied.

"No." Marissa shook her head and folded her arms. "They can't stay here. I'm sorry."

"Marissa, please, just for awhile. I'll help him look for a small apartment around here…Please?" Ryan begged. "I can't just kick him out."

"Well, he wouldn't have to be kicked out, if you hadn't brought him to our house."

Ryan ran his hands through his hair. "Look, it's only for awhile. I promise." Ryan said and then left her alone in the kitchen.

"Thanks again, bro. You don't know how much this means to the kids and I right now. I don't know what I would do without you." Trey said, sitting down in the living room. Ben glared at his Uncle Trey and then at his dad.

"Yeah, well…I couldn't just leave you there."

Conner tugged at Ryan's pants. "Dad, can Amy sleep in my room?" He asked.

"Sure, we'll see how it goes. But, if you two talk and not sleep, then it's over, understand?" Ryan replied.

"Yeah! Come on Amy, I'll show you my room!"

"Conner, I want you in your pajamas and in bed in ten minutes." Marissa yelled out to him as she walked into the living room.

"Josh, you can stay in Ben's room." Ryan said.

"Dad…" Ben started to protest, but stopped as he saw the look in his dad's eye. He hated Josh with an extreme passion. Josh was three years older than him and acted like he was God. "Fine…" Ben stormed off to his room. Josh picked up his bag of clothes and went upstairs to Ben's room.

"So, uh…Trey, you can sleep downstairs. There's a pull-out couch." Marissa said.

"Thanks." Trey thanked her and then grabbed his things. "I'm going to head off to bed now. I'm exhausted." He told them and then left.

"Are you mad at me?" Ryan asked, sliding his arms around her waist.

"Would you be mad at me if Caitlin were to come over with her kids?" She questioned.

"Caitlin doesn't have kids." Ryan smirked.

"But, if she did…would you be mad at me?"

"No." Ryan replied.

"Liar!" She said and then kissed him on the lips.

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"Quit touching my things!" Ben yelled at Josh.

"Chill, loser…I'm just looking around. God, you're such a freak." Josh mumbled, picking up a comic from Ben's desk. "Is it okay if I read this, master?" Josh asked.

"Put it back when you're done with it." Ben replied, grabbing his pajamas and then going into the bathroom to change. Back in Ben's room, Josh slid out of his pants and hopped into Ben's bed with the comic book.

"Get out of my bed." Ben ordered, walking back into his room.

"Hey, I'm the guest. I get to sleep where I want. And where I want to sleep is here. You can take the floor. Oh, and do me a favor…Turn off the lights." He said, as he turned on the lamp beside him.

"Actually, I think you should take the floor. It's not like you haven't slept on it before. Did you even have a bed in Chino?" Ben asked, coldly.

Josh tore off the covers and pounced on top of Ben. Josh pushed his arm down on Ben's throat. "Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that?" Ben grasped onto Josh's arm and tried to pull it away from his throat. "The only reason we're here is because of you rich bastards. You guys just have to take away everything we got, don't you?"

"You're choking me." Ben whispered.

Josh got off of him and returned to Ben's bed. He picked up the comic book and continued reading it. Ben, who was still on the floor, rubbed his neck and then left his bedroom. He went over to his parents' bedroom and knocked on the door.

"It's open." Marissa yelled out.

Ben walked in. "I'm not going back to my room if he's still in there!" Ben yelled at her.

"Ben, what's the matter?" Ryan asked, walking out of the bathroom.

"He tried to kill me!" Ben exaggerated. "And he's making me sleep on the floor."

"I'll handle this." Ryan told Marissa and then went over to Ben's room. "Hey Josh, how about you sleep on the downstairs couch. I forgot we got rid of the bunkbeds and didn't realize that someone would be sleeping on the floor."

"Oh, sure…No problem." Josh said, getting out of Ben's bed. He grabbed his pants and bag of clothes, glaring at Ben, and went downstairs.

"There. Now go to bed." Ryan said, and then shut Ben's door. He went over to Conner's room and opened the door. Both Conner and Amy were sleeping in the bed together. They were both small, so it all worked out. "Goodnight, guys." Ryan whispered and then closed the door shut. He then returned to his bedroom.

"Everything okay?" Marissa asked.

Ryan shut the lights off and replied, "Everything's dandy." He changed into his T-shirt and shorts and then slid into bed next to Marissa. He curled up with Marissa, with both hands wrapped around her belly. "Oh, she's definitely a soccer player." Ryan joked and then he kissed her on the back of her neck.

"Ballerina." Marissa mumbled.

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